• All the flashbacks for The Void.

    The day Emma was murdered.

    Annelise drove her dark blue 2009 Volkswagen Beetle into the drive way of her mansion of a house. It was the biggest house in the whole neighborhood. She got her bookbag out of her car and then locked it after she closed the door. She walked up her long sidewalk and gasped, dropping her keys onto the ground as she walked in on the scene of what would become her sister's murder. A man was there and he was fighting with the nanny that Annelise had gotten to watch Emma who was 4 at the time. The nanny would watch Emma till Annelise got home from school and then Annelise would watch Emma the rest of the day. Their parents were workaholics that barely ever paid any attention to Emma or Annelise. There was lots of shouting going on and the nanny slapped the man right across the cheek. Annelise could see Emma further in the house holding her dearest teddy bear in a death grip while she watched the fight. The man suddenly punched the nanny and then pulled a gun of his jacket. Annelise, the nanny, and Emma all screamed in unison. The man shot the nanny first and Annelise saw him point it at Emma. She ran to go help Emma but the man shot Emma right in the head. Her body fell to the ground with a loud thud and Annelise screamed so loud that neighbors who hadn't heard the gun shot definitely heard her screams. The man turned the gun on Annelise and pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed Annelise's arm causing her to cry out. A neighbor had heard the gunshots and had shot at the man at the same time the man had shot at Annelise in turn causing his aim to fail at killing Annelise. The man fell to the floor dead as Annelise fell to the floor crying hysterically. All she saw was her sister getting shot over and over in her mind. That was the day that the Void joined Annelise.


    Before Emma was murdered.

    Riley stared at the girl of his dreams as she put on her eye liner for school. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Annelise had long straight blonde hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She was just the right size too. Not too big and not too thin. She was perfect. She had a tan and clear complexion so the only make-up she ever had to put on was eye liner. Annelise finished her eyeliner and looked up to Riley.
    "We'll leave in a second. The nanny hasn't gotten here to take care of Emma yet,"She said in her soft, soprano voice.
    "Okay," Riley said and he stood up and crossed the distance between them quickly and attacked her with his lips. Annelise smiled against his lips and kissed him back.
    After a few moments they broke apart when they heard a small knock at the door. It was Emma who was rubbing her eyes tiredly,"The nanny is here." Annelise smiled and picked her up in her arms.
    "Okay. You go back to bed. I know you're tired,"She said sweetly and carried Emma to her own bed.
    It's like Emma is her own daughter with the way she treats her.. Riley smiled as he thought to himself as he watched Annelise lay Emma down. Riley followed Annelise down the stairs to the nanny that was currently making breakfast in the kitchen. Annelise smiled and waved goodbye to the nanny as she walked out the door with Riley following close behind.
    "Your parents at work?"Riley asked Annelise as they got into her car.
    Annelise shrugged like it didn't matter but really her heart seemed to crack everytime she was reminded of her parents.
    "Of course. Where else would they be?"She said in a fake calm voice.
    Riley looked at her with covered up concern as Annelise focused on the road. He noticed some red bleeding into the wrists of her white long sleeve.
    "Might want to go back and change,"Riley said coldly. Oh yes, he knew her secret. He knew how she coped with her parents ignoring her and her little sister. He knew how she coped with the responsiblity of a little girl. She cut. But what Riley didn't know was that everytime Annelise cut she was just dancing with the Void that would one day take her over.

    Annelise smiled and laughed at some joke a jock was telling her. She actually had no idea what the joke was, but she laughed at the right intervals anyways. Annelise was patiently waiting for Riley to come and eat lunch with her like he always did. It was tradition, and he was being exceptionally late. The jock was actually smart and could tell she wasn't paying attention to him so he told her the first thing that came to his mind,"I love you,Annelise, and I want you to marry me. I even went to Jared's for you." Annelise sensed he had told some joke and laughed.
    He sighed and said something again,"Annelise, I want to ravish you. Right now, so everyone can see, and then I want you to bite my head off like that insect does."
    Annelise had heard him that time and blushed deeply at how she had been caught not listening,"I'm sorry. I just...Riley's late."
    The jock nodded in understanding,"Well go look for him so I can go tell some other beautiful cheerleader my hilarious jokes." Annelise flashed him a grateful smile and walked off to find Riley. By the time she did find Riley lunch was over and they were both very late for their next class.
    "Where have you been? I waited for you,"Annelise told him as she sat down across from him at the picnic table he was sitting at. Riley had a sad look about him as he looked up at Annelise.
    "I'm sorry. I was just sitting here thinking,"Riley said quietly.
    Annelise shrugged off his sorry but was curious,"What were you thinking about?" Riley sighed, he didn't want to do this, but he just couldn't take it anymore.
    "We need to break up. I'm tired of you hurting yourself,"Riley said and looked as if he was close to crying."This is the hardest thing I've ever-"He was stopped in mid sentence by a hard slap across the face from Annelise. Annelise had tears streaming down her cheeks,dropping down onto the table.
    "Don't you dare say that this is the hardest thing you've ever had to do! Don't you dare!"She yelled at him, interrupting a couple on going classes. Annelise abrubtly stood up and ran to her car, not stopping when Riley and many people out of class ran to stop her from leaving. She drove out of the parking lot quickly, only to be met with another car as soon as she got out of the parking lot. The last thing Annelise saw was Riley's worried face before she fell into unconsciousness.

    Annelise couldn't see anything, couldn't lift a finger, couldn't open her eyes. She could only hear everything that was going on around her. She heard crying, distant yelling, a cell phone ring, a nurse coming in to check on things. She heard all of this and yet she couldn't talk or make noise herself. She felt someone take her hand in theirs. She knew it was Riley's hand from all the times they had held hands. Her heart ached as she remembered why she had crashed her car and landed herself in this position. It was all because the boy who was holding her hand now broke her heart, turning it into a million shattered pieces. She yearned for the strength to pull her hand out of his grasp, but the strength never came to her.
    Distantly, she heard her mother's impatient voice,"When is she going to wake up? I need to tell her the damage she's done to that car!"
    Annelise wanted to open her eyes and scream at her mother and tell her mother all the things that she had ever done wrong. She knew that she would have more than enough things to say about that subject.
    She then heard her father's voice,"She's going to pay for it,because I am not going to pay for it for her." She inwardly groaned at her father. How could he say all this while she couldn't even wake up like she wanted to?
    She heard Riley's voice ring out loudly,"Would you two shut up!? Your daughter hasn't even woken up from a terrible car accident, and you are already punishing her! I can't believe anyone would ever let the two of you be parents, for you have to be the worst parents I think I have ever laid my eyes on!"
    Annelise felt an intense emotion of love when Riley said all that. She loved that he was sticking up for her even after they broke up. She loved everything he did for her. She could almost sigh as the realization hit her. She loved Riley, and no amount of breaking up could ever tarnish her love for him.


    Actual Chapters: http://www.gaiaonline.com/arena/writing/fiction/vote/?entry_id=102064879